. . l openlands, —those that were first sought by settlers,—they weredriven out within a few years after settlement began. Evenhad they not attacked the corn they must soon have succumbed,because of their large size, their white color and their generalconspicuousness. In the early days the Indians used to stealupon the Cranes and shoot them with arrows. Now the fewsurvivors of this species in the west will hardly come know-ingly within a mile of the white man. Lawson says that Cranes are sometimes bred up tame,and are excellent in th
. . l openlands, —those that were first sought by settlers,—they weredriven out within a few years after settlement began. Evenhad they not attacked the corn they must soon have succumbed,because of their large size, their white color and their generalconspicuousness. In the early days the Indians used to stealupon the Cranes and shoot them with arrows. Now the fewsurvivors of this species in the west will hardly come know-ingly within a mile of the white man. Lawson says that Cranes are sometimes bred up tame,and are excellent in the garden to destroy frogs and othervermin.^ This bird is long lived and grows wary as the years go by;it now frequents prairies, marshes and barren grounds, overwhich it stalks, always alert and watchful. It flies low, itswings sometimes almost brushing the grass tops, but in migra-tion it rises to such tremendous heights that it may pass overa large region unnoticed by man. It feeds on frogs, fish, small » Lawson, John: History of Carolina, 1860, p. PLATE XXII. —SANDHILL common m New England; now extirpated. SPECIES EXTINCT OR EXTIRPATED. 483 mammals and insects, and is said to take corn and othercereals and the succulent roots of water plants. Nuttall, describing the flights of the Whooping Crane upthe Mississippi valley in December, 1811, says that thebustle of their great migrations and the passage of theirmighty armies fills the mind with wonder. It seemed, hesays, as though the whole continent was giving up its quotaof the species to swell this mighty host, and the clangor oftheir numerous legions, passing high in air, was almost deaf-ening. His statement, that this great host of Cranes waspassing nearly all night, will give some idea of the immensityof this great flight. What a change has come in a century! The Whooping Crane is doomed to extinction. It has dis-appeared from its former habitat in the east and is now foundonly in uninhabited pl
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